Excrement in lift costing students cash

Residents at student accommodation in Lincoln will be fined for excrement found in a lift - unless the perpetrator is found.

Students at the accommodation block known as the Pavilions have been told they will be charged for the cost of cleaning the excrement if the culprit does not come forward. On Thursday February 18, the facilities team of the Pavilions discovered the human excrement in the lift of Ellison House. This incident follows a graffiti attack in Proctor Mews the week before, as well as another incident of excrement in the same block.

Samantha Barnes, marketing assistant at Digs, the company who owns the Pavilions, said that the cost to clean the excrement would be about £126, equating to £1 per resident. She commented: "It is hoped that the perpetrator can be found so that the charge can be dropped for all residents. At this time however we are still no wiser as to who committed these acts."

The cost cannot be avoided by residents despite the fact that the perpetrator may not even live in the block in question. If residents refuse to pay then Digs, the company who run Pavilions, will deduct the cost from the £150 deposit.

Helen Halton, a resident in Ellison House, argues that it is unfair to charge everyone, despite the small cost: "I don't want to pay for something I've had nothing to do with."